“My time’s restricted… how do I select?”
Automobile rental is a scorching matter for vacationers headed to Costa Rica. Current analysis performed by the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) signifies that, after lodging, renting a automotive is the biggest expense, averaging $702 for an eleven-day trip.
The Web is buzzing with damaging critiques discussing overcharging, poor customer support and mechanical breakdowns. You may need even written one your self!
A typical midsize (3 – 4 adults) 4X4 rental runs between $58 and $65 day by day with third celebration insurance coverage and charges can fluctuate as a lot as 20 % amongst automotive rental firms, so studying a fast overview will probably be time properly spent when you calculate the financial savings.
So the query is; which rental firm provides one of the best steadiness of truthful worth, succesful customer support and dependable automobiles? I’ve researched all of it for you, so preserve studying!
Disclosure: This analysis was performed in Might – July 2013. The next firms have been chosen as a result of they’re probably the most extensively utilized in Costa Rica. Some are native firms; others are worldwide franchises of acknowledged model names. Comparisons embrace: customer support, pricing and the reservation course of. The businesses are listed alphabetically and never primarily based on private or on-line preferences.
Contemplate this data earlier than renting:
Insurance coverage
One of many largest causes for complaints is from the stack of unexpected prices introduced to the renter as soon as standing on the rental firm’s counter. Vacationers are sometimes drained after a protracted flight after which are confronted by prices that weren’t anticipated, defined or budgeted.
Topping the checklist of grievances is the non-disclosure of charges related to the obligatory third-party insurance coverage on the time the reservation is made.
In accordance with Costa Rican regulation, each driver is required to hold legal responsibility protection to insure towards accidents to 3rd events. Automobile rental firms typically chorus from disclosing the price of this coverage within the quoted rental charge to look extra aggressive. Obligatory third-party insurance coverage can typically be as a lot as double the car’s rental price. The one assure towards insurance coverage confusion is to inquire in case your estimate consists of the third celebration insurance coverage and demand on a written citation.
Value of Obligatory Insurance coverage (additionally known as Third Occasion or SLI)
Count on to pay between $12 and $15 day by day for this insurance coverage, relying on the make and mannequin of the rented car and the rental automotive company. It is a authorized situation of your rental settlement and is usually not coated by bank cards and can’t be waived. It is a truth of renting a automotive in Costa Rica.
Collision Harm Waiver (CDW)
Because the title suggests, this is not insurance coverage, however a waiver, which relieves the renter from any legal responsibility for injury to the rental automotive after the deductible is paid (often from $750 to $1,500). Some companies require renters to buy their CDW coverage; thereby negating any bank card program. For an extra price, many companies do provide a zero legal responsibility choice the place the renter will probably be free of paying for any injury to the automotive. Some firms might put strain upon renters to buy the zero legal responsibility protection; nevertheless, it’s totally non-compulsory, until it’s within the fantastic print of their rental settlement.
Bank card insurance coverage applications might cowl the CDW for a rental car. Examine along with your chosen rental automotive firm to search out which proof of insurance coverage is required after which request that out of your bank card firm previous to arriving. If you happen to use your bank card’s CDW coverage, anticipate to pay a better deposit on the car; round $1,500 to $2000 is frequent. The upper deposit ensures that the bank card holder has sufficient monetary reserves to cowl damages if wanted. You will need to contemplate that if utilizing CDW protection offered by a bank card (in lieu of the lease a automotive operator), all damages will probably be billed to the renter’s bank card. The bank card firm will then reimburse the cardboard holder for damages.
Extra Insurance coverage
Tires and windshields are not often included in insurance coverage insurance policies, though extra insurance policies could also be taken out for protecting these ceaselessly broken gadgets. Neither the inside nor the beneath of the car could also be coated. At all times learn the fantastic print.
Commonplace Process
Your bank card will probably be charged, or a ‘maintain’ positioned, for the rental car in the course of the time of the rental settlement; i.e. from selecting up the rental till you come it. Debit playing cards are typically not acceptable.
Extra Expenses
Most firms have surcharges for extra drivers, automotive seats/boosters, cell telephones, coolers, GPS and/or roof racks. The prices fluctuate from firm to firm, however since these extras are billed at a day by day charge, it’s price checking the overall price — extra choices can add up in a short time! A GPS is round $8 to $10 per day; nevertheless, some operators might provide discounted models. Count on to pay round $5 day by day for a kid seat and some {dollars} a day for all the opposite ‘niceties’. Vamos is notable for providing most of those choices and, throughout some promotions, even the GPS rental complimentarily. Alamo, Finances, Hertz and Nationwide cost probably the most for such extra choices; whereas the opposite firms listed, cost extra cheap costs.
Surcharges
Most firms add small incremental prices, similar to license plate and environmental charges, into the overall tally. Be cautious of operators who insert these extra prices into the small print of the rental contract. Autos rented direct on the airport incur airport taxes, that are a whopping 12% of your rental price!
The rental car ought to be returned with the identical quantity of gas, until in any other case indicated. If not, firms might cost above fuel station charges for lacking gas.
Autos
There’s a debate over the automobiles equipped by rental firms: Older automobiles enable the motive force to mix in additional than a shiny, new automotive. Having an older mannequin might have the oblique advantage of being much less scrutinized by automotive rental companies for latest nicks and scratches, in contrast to a more moderen car. Nevertheless, a more moderen car could also be extra roadworthy. This debate carries on into the completely different car makes and fashions. Typically, Costa Rican corporations are in a position to lease their automobiles for a decrease charge as a result of their automobiles are sometimes three to 5 years outdated (versus two to a few). On-line critiques would recommend that the native corporations haven’t any extra complaints regarding car high quality than transnational franchises; analysis on boards, similar to TripAdvisor.com, appears to point that prospects ceaselessly respect driving a less-than-new car by means of the wilds of Costa Rica. The explanations are loads, from highway circumstances to the notion of less-then-new automobiles mixing in higher — a more moderen car might draw extra undesirable consideration.
The alternatives of rental automobiles in Costa Rica are principally restricted to makes and fashions that keep a aggressive resale worth, are a typical model within the nation, and are cheap to take care of. As such a rent-a-car operator’s fleet have a tendency to not be as numerous as america. Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Hyundai represent the mainstay manufacturers of most rental fleets.
Typically, drivers are charged for supposed ‘damages’ to the car upon return. As soon as receiving the car, renters ought to meticulously verify for pre-existing flaws and examine it with the car inspection doc utilized by the rental automotive consultant. Some renters recommend photographing or videoing the car from all angles, to keep away from any disagreement between pre-existing and lately broken gadgets.
Pricing
Automobile leases in Costa Rica are pricier in comparison with different nations. Duties on automobiles are excessive (as a lot as 50% of their worth!), elements are costlier and unforgiving highway circumstances contribute to greater put on and tear, producing greater upkeep prices.
The rule is you get what you pay for — there are different choices than these rental firms listed right here, however they don’t seem to be listed for a very good motive. They merely fail to supply fundamental customer support and/or an appropriate car situation required for a (practically) trouble-free trip.
When evaluating rental automotive prices, it’s best to go on to the Costa Rican web site of the rental automotive firm, somewhat than making an attempt to make use of their worldwide format or an middleman (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Kayak, et al.). For a similar automobiles and reservation dates, the charges provided by the respective worldwide vs. Costa Rican web sites for Alamo, Finances, Hertz and Thrifty differed considerably.
To keep away from confusion, print out all correspondence with the automotive rental firm with whom you’ve reserved a car and produce this to the rental workplace with the quote given on the time of reservation.
The next high ten chart ranks the businesses from highest priced to lowest and it consists of the obligatory insurance coverage cost. Within the instances of Alamo and Hertz, the determine accommodates their CDW price as it’s certainly one of their rental necessities. This worth comparability relies on per week’s rental of a Daihatsu Bego, the place obtainable (Greenback provides the Suzuki Vitara) from September 14th – twenty first, then once more in December to view each Inexperienced and Excessive Season charges. The checklist rapidly demonstrates that the worth variation relies upon vastly on the corporate — for mainly the identical service. These costs have been obtained in June/July 2013.
Rental Automobile Firms Ranked In accordance with Value
September
10. Alamo $650.96
9. Hertz $514.27
8. Adobe $449
7. Finances $455
6. Nationwide $428.01
5. Thrifty $421.05
4. Service $374.43
3. Vamos $370.30
2. Greenback $364
1. Wild Rider $350
December
10. Alamo $650.96
9. Nationwide $597.51
8. Hertz $566.52
7. Finances $555
6. Greenback $532
5. Thrifty $506.58
4. Service $494.43
3. Vamos $461.30
2. Adobe $459
1. Wild Rider $395
Alamo ranks quantity ten for each seasons, making it the most costly firm. Finances, Hertz and Nationwide additionally charge low on the size for economical rental choices.
Firm Summaries
Adobe
Web site is obvious and straightforward to make use of, however pricing and even the automobiles listed usually are not the identical as these given by an workplace consultant over the telephone. Obligatory insurance coverage prices usually are not proven with the checklist of automobiles and rental prices, however they’re clearly displayed on the next web page as a buyer strikes in the direction of reserving a reservation. Blended buyer critiques on-line. E mail response is lower than 24 hours, however might not present all requested data.
Toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity. No Reside Chat.
10 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $19 day by day
Extra prices: GPS $9/day, youngster seat $5/day
Alamo
Web site is obvious and straightforward to make use of, however costs differ towards quotes obtained over the telephone. Obligatory insurance coverage prices usually are not given with the checklist of automobiles and rental prices, however they’re clearly displayed on the next web page because the buyer strikes in the direction of making a reservation. Blended buyer critiques on-line. E mail response is lower than 24 hours.
No toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity or Reside chat
14 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $11.95 day by day, however should additionally take their CDW at $12.95 day by day
Extra prices: GPS $12/day, youngster seat $6/day
Finances
Web site is fundamental, however simple to make use of. Costs on-line differ to the quotations given by a consultant over the telephone and relying on whether or not the worldwide or Costa Rican web site is used. Obligatory insurance coverage prices are given together with the checklist of automobiles; nevertheless, the opposite prices usually are not listed. Blended buyer critiques on-line. E mail response is greater than 24 hours.
No toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity. No Reside Chat on Costa Rican web site.
10 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: included within the listed worth
Extra prices: GPS $10.95/day, youngster seat $12/day (the most costly of the highest ten)
Greenback
Web site is obvious and straightforward to make use of. Costs quoted differ if calling from the U.S. or in Costa Rica. Obligatory insurance coverage prices usually are not given with the checklist of automobiles and rental prices, however they’re clearly displayed on the next web page as a buyer strikes in the direction of a making a reservation. Blended critiques on-line, however typically receives constructive suggestions. E mail inquiries answered inside 24 hours.
Toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity. No Reside Chat.
3 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $16 day by day
Extra prices: GPS $9/day, youngster seat $5/day
Hertz
Web site is obvious and straightforward to make use of. Obligatory insurance coverage prices usually are not given moreover the checklist of automobiles and rental prices, however they’re clearly displayed on the next web page because the buyer strikes in the direction of a reserving a reservation. Blended buyer critiques on-line. E mail response lower than 24 hours.
Toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity and Reside Chat (though it appears to be completely offline)
7 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $17.43 day by day, however their CDW can be a requirement
Extra prices: GPS $12/day, youngster seat $2/day
Nationwide
Web site is obvious and straightforward to make use of. Obligatory insurance coverage prices usually are not given together with the checklist of automobiles and rental prices, however they’re clearly displayed on the next web page as a buyer strikes in the direction of making a reservation. Blended buyer critiques on-line, however extra constructive than damaging. E mail response lower than 24 hours.
Toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity. Reside Chat.
22 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $25 day by day (the most costly of the highest ten)
Extra prices: GPS $12/day, youngster seat $6/day
Service
Web site is obvious and person pleasant with only a slight confusion in that a web based quote is obtained by clicking on ‘Reserve Now’ and never the ‘Get a Quote’ choice. The response to a telephone inquiry was to make use of the web site. Obligatory insurance coverage prices are given together with the checklist of automobiles and rental prices for the off-season prices and on the second web page of the opposite citation web page. Bear in mind is a extremely advisable gross sales consultant who’s talked about in lots of on-line critiques for the excessive stage of his customer support. Typically on-line critiques are constructive for Service. E mail response is lower than 24 hours, though all data requested might not be obtained.
U.S.A telephone quantity, however not toll-free. No Reside Chat.
5 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $15 day by day
Extra prices: GPS $5.99/day, youngster seat $2.99/day
Thrifty
Costa Rican model of the web site is inconceivable to make use of and you might be requested to register for a person title and password. Obligatory insurance coverage prices usually are not given together with the checklist of automobiles and rental prices. A buyer has to click on on “Safety Choices” on the U.S. web site and choose the obligatory insurance coverage by clicking on it — implying that it’s non-compulsory and never a required price. Thrifty are inclined to obtain combined critiques on-line. E mail response is greater than 24 hours.
Toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity. No Reside Chat.
4 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $19.99 day by day
Extra prices: GPS $10/day, youngster seat $5/day
Vamos
Web site is obvious and straightforward to make use of. Obligatory insurance coverage prices usually are not given alongside aspect the checklist of automobiles and rental prices, however are clearly displayed on the next web page because the buyer strikes in the direction of reserving a reservation. Anibal, a consultant, is ceaselessly talked about in on-line critiques for his excessive stage of customer support expertise. Common Supervisor, George Schwarzenbach is thought on Journey Advisor for his upfront and trustworthy responses to prospects’ posts.
In recent times, Vamos has obtained very constructive critiques on-line. E mail response is lower than 24 hours. Reside Chat has on the spot response time to inquiries.
Toll-free U.S.A and Canada telephone quantity. Reside Chat.
3 places of work nationwide
Obligatory insurance coverage: $11.95 day by day
Extra prices: GPS $8/day, youngster seat free
Wild Rider
Web site is obvious and straightforward to make use of. Obligatory insurance coverage prices are given subsequent to the checklist of automobiles. Wild Rider is the one automotive rental agency in Costa Rica with no seen unhealthy critiques on-line. Proprietor, Thorsten, is commonly praised for his effectivity and customer support, regardless of the very restricted assets the corporate has at hand. Emails obtain very immediate and detailed responses in lower than 12 hours.
No toll-free telephone quantity or Reside Chat
1 workplace — no Liberia airport workplace
Obligatory insurance coverage: included
Extra prices: GPS $8/day, youngster seat $5/day
Comparability Evaluate
Buyer Service
Vamos and Wild Rider reply rapidly and effectively to e mail or dwell chat inquiries. Adobe, Alamo, Greenback, Hertz, Nationwide, and Service reply to e mail inquiries in lower than 24 hours, however Adobe and Service didn’t present all the knowledge requested (probably a language barrier). Finances provides a free telephone service, nevertheless it seems to be all the time busy. Hertz’s dwell chat seems to be continually offline. Throughout the previous yr, prospects who posted to on-line overview websites expressed a specific satisfaction with the customer support provided by Service, Vamos and Wild Rider.
Readability
Adobe, Alamo and Finances have completely different rental costs posted on their web sites than these quoted over the telephone. Phone costs have been decrease than that quoted on the web site within the instances of Adobe and Alamo, however but greater within the case of Finances. Adobe additionally provides completely different car fashions over the telephone as in comparison with their web site. Worldwide automotive rental corporations with each a Costa Rican and worldwide web site seem to have pricing variations between the 2 websites.
Finances and Wild Rider embrace the obligatory insurance coverage of their rental costs, however Finances states that ‘different prices’ which will probably be introduced on the counter within the small print on their web site. Rental costs for automotive seating needed to be verified on the telephone as they don’t seem to be listed on the Finances web site.
All different firms except for Thrifty (a U.S. web site), clearly present the obligatory insurance coverage price with the citation given. Thrifty’s Costa Rican web site is just unusable.
Pricing
Service, Vamos and Wild Rider constantly provide one of the best charges for each Inexperienced and Excessive seasons, though Greenback has one of many lowest Inexperienced season charges obtainable, whereas Adobe has a less expensive Excessive season charge. Vamos provide one of the best “all inclusive” charges, given that the majority choices are provided free of charge.
Adobe, Greenback, Service, Thrifty and Wild Rider stay aggressive with their pricing of things similar to youngster seats. Alamo, Hertz and Nationwide are the most costly firms to lease from and their extra choice prices are additionally dearer.
“So, what’s your rental advice?”
General, the Costa Rican firms appear to trump the multi-nationals with higher pricing, service and readability.
Service provides a typically high-level of customer support and pretty aggressive pricing at each worldwide airports.
Vamos can provide environment friendly reserving and continued high-level of customer support with aggressive pricing, in addition to free extra choices at each SJO and LIR airports.
Wild Rider may be very extremely rated for a rental with clear and economical pricing and wonderful customer support, however they’re solely in San Jose.
“Now you are able to guide your rental automotive after seeing how the competitors compares. Good luck and comfortable travels!”